A common phrase I hear is "Don't waste your time debating a liberal/leftist."
The reason why I think it is completely worth talking is because I was a Democrat voter. I changed.
If someone would have talked with me in more depth EARLIER, I would have changed even EARLIER than I did.
What would have changed me sooner? Asking me what I thought. Taking an interest in me. Answering my questions in a straight forward and fact based way.
I grew up only hearing the Democrat's perspective. How could I even consider voting Republican if no one had ever even explained another perspective and how it relates to me and my life?
The truth is on our side and I think we do a disservice to the cause when we are not willing to engage. I know there are crazy people that you should walk away from but the vast majority are not crazy and are interested in listening -- I certainly was.
Talking openly also gives courage to people who agree with you but simply don't know how to put their positions in to words. Remaining silent gives the entire public domain court (where culture is formed) to the enemy with zero resistance.
Thank you.
Thank you!
I can easily debate Communism vs. Capitalism. But, Socialism is much harder.
Do you argue that Socialism is Communism (and always leads to it).
The socialists say they just want the rich to pay 1% more so everyone can have free healthcare. They also say social security works just fine, Medicare works just fine, etc.
The same philosophical faults underpin all forms of marxism. They deny absolute truth, and deny humans are selfish by nature. Statistics are being hidden, but the same productivity drop is hitting Europe now.
As for their goals, those are all completely impossible; a 1% tax will not support universal Healthcare. I don't think taxing the top 10% an extra 10% would pay for universal healthcare. Social security and Medicare will soon have no money, so they don't work fine.
These are people who think Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have tens of billions of dollars in a bank account or something; they honestly think they can just make them pay 20 billion dollars in taxes each and solve healthcare, not understanding their wealth is in stock, and that liquidating large amounts could crash the whole economy.
But again, they live in fairy tale land, so these arguements make no dent in their thick armor of ignorance. The problem is that they deny that the human soul is natural source of selfishness, and that it is good parenting and society that steers a person in the right direction. Many even deny laziness being a problem; Karl Marx himself was known to be a very lazy man, so it is no surprise his follower too are lazy and make external excuses for their self serving unproductiveness.
I realized I didn't really answer the question straight. Essentially, communism and socialism are two applications of the same faulty philosophy.
Arguing the difference between communism and socialism is like arguing killing black people verses enslaving them. There is a difference between the two, but the underlying problem is dehumanizing those with dark skin. Similarly, while socialism is less extreme, the core problem is still that it is based on a false premise.
Though really, I think the main problem is an immoral society. The American system has deteriorated as society has become more perverse. Capitalism holds things together a little longer than socialism, because as people get worse, at least capitalism will leverage greed to create some good for others. But at the end of the day, as families collapse and people become increasingly selfish, rule of law will eventually break down regardless of the system in place.